Broadcast area Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Frequency 1460 kHz | Branding Gem 104 | |
City Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania Slogan The Greatest Hits Of The 60's, 70's & 80's Translator(s) 101.7 W269CF (Clarks Summit)
104.3 W282BK (Tunkhannock) | ||
WGMF is an AM radio station licensed to the city of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania and is part of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre radio market. It broadcasts on a frequency of 1460 kHz with 5,000 watts daytime, and 1,000 watts nighttime power with a directional signal. WZMF is an AM radio station licensed to the city of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania and is part of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre radio market. It broadcasts on a frequency of 730 kHz with 1,000 Watts daytime, and 12 Watts nighttime power. The WGMF-WZMF studio is located on Wilmar Drive in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania with phone number 570-836-4200. WGMF formerly simulcast the adult contemporary format aired by its sister station, WCOZ, now KZ104, in neighboring Sullivan County, but now airs a classic hits format. The station identifies itself primarily by its translators at 104.3 and 104.5 MHz, hence the name "Gem 104".
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History
WGMF's beginnings trace back to the mid-1980s, when a consortium of eight local businessmen pooled their resources to form Endless Mountain Broadcasting. There was no radio station on the air at that time serving Tunkhannock or Wyoming County, and the rugged mountainous terrain often inhibited weaker radio signals from surrounding markets. One of the owner principals for Endless Mountain Broadcasting was Don Sherwood, a Tunkhannock Chevrolet dealer who would go on to pursue a career in politics, leading him to a congressional seat that he would hold from 1999 to 2007. Sherwood and Norman Werkheiser [1], founder and president of Keystone Caps, a truck camper top manufacturing company, were the two majority shareholders in the company.
The station was granted approval for a construction permit in November 1984, and made its debut as WEMR in 1986 with a country music format, as well as a live, local real-time airstaff. Off to a good start, Endless Mountain Broadcasting decided to petition the FCC for an FM license. Former sister station, WYMK (now WCIG and owned by Family Life Ministries), made is debut in July 1990, with the help of additional investors with the resources necessary to put the station on the air.
The addition of WYMK into the WEMR portfolio however, did not meet the financial goals expected by Endless Mountain Broadcasting, and both stations were sold in 1997 to Citadel Licenses, Inc. Operations for both stations were later moved from the WEMR transmitter site on Wilmar Drive in Tunkhannock to Baltimore Drive in Wilkes-Barre, where they occupied space shared with other Citadel-owned stations.
The acquisition of WEMR and WYMK by Citadel did little to reverse its fortunes, with both stations being utilized as little more than simulcast outlets of other Citadel-owned stations. Both stations were sold on May 20, 2003 to its present owner for $515,000.
WGMF today
WEMR had left the air for a period of about 30 days, and much concern was raised over its future. However, owner Ben Smith, according to the website radio-info.com, has assured those concerned that WEMR will continue to operate and is committed to more local programming in the future. However, engineering issues at the Tunkhannock facility had to be worked out in order for the station to continue operations. WEMR returned to the air continuing its WCOZ simulcast on August 31, 2007. WGMF changed to a simulcast of its 107.7 sister station programming classic hits in early 2009. WGMF became a separate standalone facility in August 2009. WZMF, 730 AM, began a simulcast of WGMF, 1460 AM, on May 5, 2010, under an LMA pending its sale. The sale was completed in June 2010. WGMF/WZMF broadcasts a Classic Hits format similar to CBS Radio's Classic Hits WOGL, Philadelphia and KOOL, Phoenix.